Product Description

What should be a time of "building up" one's life often crumbles as college students fail to make the grade with their faith. Author David Wheaton relates his own experiences at Stanford as he describes three Pillars of Peril students face in college-sex, drugs, alcohol, and humanism-and shares strategies for overcoming these common snares through personal and spiritual safeguards. It's practical advice for creating the right environment to flourish at college and stay the course in your faith.

Product Information

Format: DRM Protected ePubVendor: Bethany HousePublication Date: 2005

ISBN: 9781441211606ISBN-13: 9781441211606Availability: In Stock

Publisher's Description

The statistic is staggering: Fifty percent of Christian college students lose their faith--or at least have made it a low priority--by the time they graduate.With a fresh voice and a conversational style, author David Wheaton explores the three pillars of peril--sex, drugs, and rebellion--most often encountered by college students. He then offers students advice on developing a game plan to avoid the spiritual pitfalls. While the temptations and influences may still be there, students following these practical tips will find that a university of instruction does not have to become a university of destruction.

Author Bio

David Wheaton was one of the top professional tennis players in the world, achieving a career-high world ranking of number 12 in 1991. While still playing professional tennis part time, David currently serves on the Board of Directors of the United States Tennis Association. In addition, he makes a positive impact on his generation through speaking engagements, writing, and hosting a weekly radio show. He also writes articles on tennis for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

ChristianBookPreviews.com

If colleges came with warning labels, they would probably look something like this book. University of Destruction: Your Game Plan For Spiritual Victory on Campus begins with the true story of the author, David Wheaton. His idyllic pre-college life trained him well for standing tall as the top-ranked junior tennis player in America, and valedictorian of his high school class, but did not prepare him to withstand the temptations, pressures, and pleasures of the college campus.
Quoting a recent survey, Wheaton maintains that as many as 50 percent of Christian students say they have lost their faith after four years of college. According to the author, the reason for this high figure is that most students are simply not prepared for the transition from high school to college, from living at home to living on campus, and from living as a child to living as an adult. Wheaton uses the lessons learned from his student experiences at Stanford University to develop wise warnings and good advice for students to help them navigate the hidden minefields of their college or university.
While many students--and their parents--are more concerned about managing time, money, and homework, Wheaton names three more insidious enemies of the college student that he calls the three Pillars of Peril: sex, drugs and alcohol. He believes that every sinful temptation (that a college student faces) falls into one of these three categories.
It is important to note that while this is a book of principles, advice, and warnings, it is also a book that explores these perils and the hidden implications. Wheaton uses Gods Word as the sole basis for his guidelines and as the framework for the positive game plan that he proposes: interaction with God, peers, and authorities. His eye-opening look at life on college campuses is recommended reading for all students, along with their parents, so that the campus experience may be one of instruction rather than destruction. Readers should be cautioned that achieving spiritual victory is the primary message of this book. What God has already done to win our spiritual victory through Christthe message of His forgiveness, unconditional love, and mercyis implied, but is not emphasized.
If you are looking for a book that will enable you to overcome the adversities of college life, read your Bible. If you are looking for encouragement to follow that Biblical advice and further instruction in discernment and maturity, then University of Destruction is an excellent choice. -- Susan Hammond, Christian Book Previews.com

Truly an excellent book from someone who has ' been there; done that '. Thoroughly Biblical, I would suggest this should be required reading for every true Christian young person who has a goal of 'higher education'. It is also an able and illuminating exposition of Colossians 2:8, which should be read, memorized and obeyed by every Christian young man or woman who is 'college bound'. I heartily commend this book!

This is an excellent book and is targeted to the young high school Christian student as they prepare to embark on one of the greatest challenges to their faith college! Teen-age tennis sensation David Wheaton gives a personal testimony about how the pitfalls of his college campus derailed his successful journey, but ultimately led him to this own personal crisis of faith that culminated with a personal surrender of his life to the Lordship of Christ. Yet, left in the wake of this victorious decision lie dozens of poor decisions battle scars of a young man unprepared to face the Three Pillars of Peril on all college campuses drugs, sex and rock n roll!Wheaton does a great job of mixing Scriptural truths with personal testimony to keep the readers attention while confronting them with truth at the same time. The book is honest, almost to a fault, about the pitfalls and dangers that await Christians as they head off to pursue higher education. Wheaton dives right at the heart of the matter that will determine success or failure the spiritual maturity of the individual, are they a genuine believer or just a good person who goes to church? The fiery trials and temptations of college will separate the wheat from the chaff. Wheaton knows first hand that experience and gives a young Christian some excellent insight into the mistakes he made at Stanford.University of Destruction may sound like a negative book, but it is far from that. The main point it drives home is that a Christian student needs to be prepared and being prepared takes work before the trials and temptations come. Wheaton does a great job of giving the reader several opportunities to wrestle with and arrive at some solid conclusions about what they will and will not do for a variety of situations. At least this can be said, if a student actually reads this book, they wont fall away from their faith because of ignorance! This is an excellent book!

I hope that a 5 is the top rating, as I wanted to give this book credit for boldness and biblical truth's taught very well, even a mother of a teenager can understand and learn from this book. I highly recommend this book to every HIGH school student, not just college bound. These principles are much needed today for our kids to read and understand, as they need to be prepared for what they are up against. The best defense is preperation and David Wheaton gives wonderful insight into how to overcome the pilars our kids are up against today. Thank you for your teaching on these sometimes sensitive subjects covered completly in God's Holy Word.

What to buy that high school graduate who is a Christian? If the answer is, "Buy him/her a book," until now the option had been limited to saccharin, shallow devotional guides. With David Wheaton's "University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus," there is now an option that is relevant, penetrating, and practical. Author David Wheaton has "been there, done that." From his own experience on the campus of Stanford University, from his research, and from his interaction with 1000s of young people, Wheaton has distilled three "Pillars of Peril" for the Christian on the college campus: sex, alcohol/drugs, and humanism. After identifying the perils, Wheaton creatively offers realistic guidelines for raising the college spiritual GPA in order to become a victorious Christian on campus. Wheaton demonstrates his insight by not stopping at the "body sins" of college campus--sex, drugs, and alcohol. For the deepest, ongoing college peril is the "mental sin" or "faith sin" of the deconstruction of belief that systematically occurs on secular college campuses. You know that a book is solid when both Sean Hannity and Dr. John MacArthur recommend it. They're correct. "University of Destruction" is an excellent gift not only for the high school graduate, but for her/his parents. Reviewer: Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends." He is also the parent of a college junior on an elite secular college campus and the parent of a high school senior headed to an elite college.